Ramis got his start in comedy in 1969 at Chicago's famed Second City improvisational theater troupe, while still employed as an associate editor at Playboy Magazine. He would later apply those comedy skills to big-screen filmmaking.

--"Animal House": Fond of quoting from this all-time frat house favorite? Chances are you're quoting at least something written by Ramis, who worked on the screenplay with Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller.

--"Ghostbusters": He was Dr. Egon Spengler, the quiet Ghostbuster alongside Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray in one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. He also wrote the screenplay along with Aykroyd and an uncredited Rick Moranis.

--"Stripes": Another high point for Murray watchers, with Ramis co-starring as a fellow military recruit and assisting on the script.

--"Groundhog Day": This unforgettable comedy about a weatherman who lives through the same day over and over was a breakthrough for Murray as an actor and stands 20 years later as a pop culture fixture. And Ramis, once again, helped make it happen. He directed and co-wrote the script with Danny Rubin.

--"Caddyshack": Another classic that fans can recite from memory. Give Ramis a lot of the credit. He was the director and collaborated on the script with Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray for this comic showcase for Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight, Chevy Chase and Ramis' pal Bill Murray as Carl Spackler, golf's most dangerous groundskeeper.